


I'm Only Bleeding

by justheretobreakthings



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt/Comfort, Pidge | Katie Holt Whump, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 17:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18595651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justheretobreakthings/pseuds/justheretobreakthings
Summary: A bit of unfortunate timing during a fight on a mission leaves Pidge wounded and Lance feeling responsible.





	I'm Only Bleeding

**Author's Note:**

> For [knittyninja](https://knittyninja.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.

“Probably gonna need some backup over here!”

 _“I’m on my way!”_  Lance replied into the comm, though Pidge barely heard it over the crackle of electricity as she managed to embed her bayard into one of the sentry bots and give it a good shock.

She straightened up, panting, and turned to face the remaining sentries. On the one hand, it had been nice of the bots to wait until she had finished the file transfer she had needed from the control room before finally spotting the break-in and coming after her. On the other hand, the sentries seemed to be trying to make up for their tardiness by sending a dozen her way all at once. Frankly, she figured she would have preferred their inconvenient timing to their strength in numbers.

She had made it out of the control room, but the numerous balconies and stairwells here in the base’s hub had given the sentries plenty of places to enter from and join the chase, so her attempt to get out of the base and back to Green had been stymied. They had underestimated the amount of security at this little outpost, it seemed. If they had known before how crowded with bots the place was, Allura no doubt would have made it more than a two-man mission.

Fortunately she was at least making progress at fighting her way through them, and Lance had finished his job of incapacitating the live soldiers at the base. Now just to wait on his appearance, a wait during which she concentrated on dodging and blocking attacks as she kept her eyes out for openings catch more sentries with her bayard.

She managed to take down one bot and was in the process of electrocuting another when Lance made his presence known with a blast straight through a sentry’s head by Pidge’s side. She took her eyes off the fight long enough to glance up and see Lance positioned on one of the balconies, holding his rifle steady and gazing through the scope. He gave her a thumbs-up, and Pidge nodded in return before swinging her arm around to pierce her bayard into the torso of the sentry right behind her.

Admittedly she was still taking a few hits, but now that she had her backup, it wasn’t hard to regain the upper hand. Over the course of the next couple of doboshes, the two of them managed to start picking off the sentries one by one, Lance from above, Pidge head-on. Pidge figured she’d be coming out of this fight with a handful of nice bruises, but nothing that wouldn’t be quick to fade.

It was the final two sentries that caused the problem.

Pidge had shot her bayard out to embed into one of the advancing sentries, but this one seemed to have been built with faster reflexes than the others. Or, of course, maybe Pidge was just getting tired. Either way, before Pidge had the chance to shock the bot, it reared, flinging the wire of the bayard in an arc and sending Pidge flying off her feet along with it.

A strange sensation struck her in the side of her abdomen, and it wasn’t until she hit the ground that the sensation turned to searing pain.

She let out a strangled scream and instinctively threw her hands to where the pain was, where it felt like a chunk had just been torn out of her and what remained was on fire. A look down at the site of the wound told her she wasn’t far off: her shaking hands couldn’t quite hide the gash that had torn through the less resilient underarmor just beneath her breastplate, the edges around the tear singed by the rifle blast.

Her head swam for several seconds during which all sound was washed out, but when sound returned, it was filled with the panicked voice of Lance in her comm.  _“Shit, shit,_ shit! _”_  he was yelling.  _“I’m so so sorry, Pidge, fuck, I was aiming for the one behind you! You - shit, you came right out of nowhere! I didn’t mean - I’m so sorry - son of a - Pidge, answer me! Shit, Pidge, are you dead?!”_

“‘M not dead,” Pidge managed to grunt out. All her concentration went to pressing her hands against the wound, and she couldn’t help but let out another cry of pain when the pressure sent more fire shooting from the gash to every nerve in her body. Vaguely she could hear Lance continue babbling into the comm, a mix of apologies and curses, and somewhere in the haze she heard the blast of the last sentry being taken out by the rifle.

She was starting to feel nauseous by the time Lance announced in a voice that seemed to be an octave higher than his usual that he was on his way down, and she wasn’t sure if that was due to the dizziness that she could feel blooming in her head, or just due to the sight of her blood dripping out from between her fingers. It didn’t matter, she supposed. She just groaned and curled into herself, shutting her eyes until she felt Lance’s hand prodding her shoulder.

“Pidge!” he was saying. “Pidge, hey, are you okay?!”

“Do I  _look_  okay to you?!” Pidge snapped. She hissed between her teeth as the wound throbbed beneath her hands. “God _damnit,_  it - it hurts…”

She took a shaky breath, then opened her eyes. Lance’s face was before her, eyes wide, mouth frozen in a tiny O-shape. It took a tick for him to move again, gulping and saying, “Pidge - Pidge, I’m so sorry, it was an accident. I’m  _so sorry_.”

Pidge sighed, letting her eyes close again. “I - I know it was. Shouldn’t have snapped at you, it’s - it’s not your fault. It’s just that… fuck, it  _hurts,_ it hurts bad…” The adrenaline from the fight was wearing off by now, and she could feel the sting of tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

Lance’s voice was breathy as he let out another string of oaths, then he was kneeling right at her side, hands hovering over the wound. “Can I - do you mind if I - ?”

Reluctantly Pidge moved her hands away, and Lance sucked in a breath. “Carajo,” he whispered at the sight of it. “That was - my rifle did that?”

“Well, yeah…” Pidge narrowed her eyes at Lance through the tears of pain. His eyes were still wide, and he had paled significantly, and she wasn’t sure whether he was shaking or her vision was, but either way, it didn’t look great. Which was not good. Not only because the wound must be nasty one in order to leave Lance looking ill, but also because she needed his help now. And this uncertain, worried, tentative Lance was not the Lance she needed. She needed energetic, cocky, confident Lance.

“Lance?” she said softly.

Lance shook his head hastily. “Right. Right, I need to - I need to bandage this - I need something to bandage it with, why the  _fuck_  doesn’t our armor come with cloth?!”

“Lance,” Pidge grunted. “You have shitty aim.”

Lance paused. “Um… what?”

“Yeah. You shot me in the side, and my head is waaaaayyyy over here.” She managed to lift her hand to point. “Like, you weren’t even close.”

“I - what are you on about, Pidge?! I wasn’t aiming for your head! It was an accident!”

“Okay, but that’s not what I’m gonna tell the others,” Pidge said. “I’m gonna tell them you panicked and mistook me for a sentry, and you were trying to shoot me in the head like you do for the other bots, but your aim was just that terrible. You’re never gonna live it down.” She mustered up a smirk. “See, this is your punishment for shooting me: I get to embarrass you. So unless you figure out some other way to pay me back…”

“Oh-ho-ho, no, you are not getting that satisfaction,” Lance said. “You want me to make it up to you? How about the best damn rescue and medical care this side of the Milky Way?!  _That’s_  what you need!” He stretched his arms out. “I’m taking you to Green, we’ll get you bandaged up and on our way back to the castle in no time. Hang tight, this, uh, this might hurt.”

“I’m ready,” Pidge set, setting her jaw. Lance scooped her into a bridal carry, and she managed to keep most of her pained yell down, although a bit managed to slip out of her throat.

“You okay, Pidge?” Lance asked. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine,” Pidge said. “These are tears of happiness because we’re finally leaving, that’s all.”

Lance snorted. “Whatever you say. Let me know if I’m jostling you too much or anything.”

Pidge nodded, and Lance set out, arms tight around Pidge’s back and legs. The wound throbbed with every step he took, but the fire had backed off for the time being. Pidge could deal with this pain until they reached Green, she was certain.

“Hey Pidge?” Lance said as they rounded a corner. “I really am sorry.”

“Quit apologizing,” Pidge muttered.

“But it was my fault you got injured. If I had been keeping a better eye on your position - ”

“Hey, it’s just as much my fault. If I had been quicker to shock that sentry it wouldn’t have managed to throw me. We’re both at fault.”

“Still, I just wish I could - ”

“Hey,” Pidge interrupted. “I don’t hold it against you. You’re doing enough.” She sighed and rested her hand against Lance’s chest. The blood loss was really taking its toll on her; she was utterly exhausted.

“Don’t you go fainting on me,” Lance said. “I don’t need you becoming a deadweight right now. Damn, you are heavy in your armor. My arms feel like they’re gonna fall off.”

“You know,” Pidge said, “Keith once carried me across the castle in full armor after training, and he said it felt like I barely weighed a thing.” She smirked to herself as Lance instantly picked up the pace, fully reinvigorated. Implying that Keith could pull off something was always the easiest way to give Lance a boost of determination.

They let quiet fall between them as Lance carried her the rest of the way to the Green Lion. The lion lowered her jaw to allow them entrance, and Lance lifted Pidge into the cockpit. “I’m, uh,” he said. “I’m not sure how we’ll get back, seeing as you’re her pilot and you’re kinda - ”

He stopped as Green gave a lurch and her dashboard lit up. A fraction of a tick later, they had lifted up.

Pidge simply smiled. “Green is smart,” she said. “She knows what needs to be done.”

“Good. I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Lance lowered Pidge gently to the floor and hurried to retrieve the kit, and Pidge felt herself shiver against the cold metal of the cockpit floor. Side effect of the blood loss, she figured. First it makes her sleepy, now she was feeling a chill as well now that she didn’t have another body against her. Gaping wounds, she decided, were not fun.

“You holding up okay?” Lance asked as he knelt next to her.

“Yeah,” Pidge whispered. “Just tired. And… kinda chilly.”

“Hm. There’s a bit of temperature regulation stuff in the paladin armor, right? Is it not working?”

“I dunno. Uh, do you think - maybe you could…?”

“I could what?” Lance asked, tilting his head.

Pidge huffed out a breath. “Well, I was warm enough until you put me down.”

“Oh. Oh, okay, I get it.” Lance edged forward and lifted Pidge up to pull her into his lap, and she let her head flop against his shoulder. “Better?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, because this bit’s gonna hurt like a bitch.”

“Go for it.”

Lance fumbled in the first aid kit for a moment before pulling out a bottle, and before Pidge had time to do more than set her jaw to prepare, he was pouring disinfectant into the gash. She let out a cry and instinctively grabbed on to Lance’s other wrist, squeezing it so hard she was frankly a little surprised that she didn’t feel bone break beneath her hand.

“Sorry about that,” Lance said.

“Don’t be,” Pidge panted. “Worst of it’s over, right?”

“Should be,” Lance said with a nod. He pulled out the gauze and bandages next and Pidge held still as she could as Lance maneuvered his arms around her to start bandaging up the wound. His left arm was at an awkward angle, reaching around to the wound while still cradling her, but Lance didn’t complain.

They both let out simultaneous sighs of relief when Lance finished and dropped the remaining bandaging back into the kit. “All right,” Lance said. “Should I hop into the pilot’s seat, help keep an eye on Green’s course?”

Pidge let out a little whine. “Do you have to? I’m tired… and you make a surprisingly good bed…”

Lance snorted. “Well, I  _have_  been told in the past that I’m an excellent cuddler. I take it you agree, then?”

“I mean, you’re no Hunk, but you’ll do,” Pidge said, a hint of a smirk peeking out. “Stay?”

“All right,” Lance said with a little smile. “No worries, I’m staying.”

“Good.” She nestled closer to his chest as best she could and allowed herself to relax against him. Her eyes drifted closed as Lance began idly carding his fingers through her hair. “Hey Lance?” she said softly.

“Yeah?”

“On our next mission, I get to take a whack at you with my bayard. We’ll call it even.”

Lance let out a little laugh. “Okay. Sounds good, Pidge.”

**Author's Note:**

> Want a mini fic from me to you? I'm writing one-shots for anyone who writes a fic or makes art that features aro/ace Keith, and tags me in it @justheretobreakthings on tumblr!


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